Bangkok hotel market

from today's Hotels newflash:


Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 30, 2007 Tuesday 8:53 AM EST
Bangkok's upmarket hotels heading for 30-per-cent vacancies


"Bangkok's luxury hotels are facing a 30-per-cent
vacancy rate this year as a result of political uncertainties, a
strong baht and a weak economy, an international property consultant
predicted Tuesday.

"We expect that overall occupancy rates for Bangkok's four- and
five-star hotels will only be 70 per cent in 2007 compared to 75 per
cent in 2006," said Navaphol Viriyakunkit, head of research at CB
Richard Ellis Thailand.

CB Richard Ellis blamed the hotel occupancy decline on political
uncertainties; New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok last year, which
killed two people and have yet to be solved; and a weak economy.

Despite the slowdown, the average room rate in Bangkok's finest
hotels has risen 2 per cent this year in baht terms and more than 10
per cent in dollar terms because of the depreciation of the greenback
against the local currency.

CP Richard Ellis predicted that the average room rate at Bangkok's
luxury hotels was likely to hit 170 dollars per night at the end of
2007 compared with 158 dollars at present, primarily because of the
dollar's ongoing slide.

Hotel prospects for 2008 looked worse because of a looming glut in
the market.

The property consultant projected that more than 2,000 new four-
and five-star hotel rooms would be completed in Bangkok in 2008,
raising the supply by 24 per cent from 2007.

Thailand's tourist arrivals in 2007 have been disappointing.
During the first eight months of this year, 9.59 million tourists
visited the kingdom, up 2.3 per cent from the same period in 2006 but
well below the more than 10-per-cent increase registered in 2006." ...

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